The invention relates to a motor vehicle sliding roof comprising a rigid sliding cover which closes an opening in the roof when in a closed position, and which is lowered out of said opening and slides under a fixed rear portion of the roof.
Sliding tops of this type are known (German Pat. No. 2,309,320 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,274). In known sliding tops the partially or totally open sliding cover may move toward the closed position in response to sudden high deceleration forces, especially on vehicle collision. This is undesirable for safety reasons.
Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a sliding roof in which the sliding cover does not move automatically in the closing direction even in a crash.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, this object is achieved by providing the sliding cover with crash protection means preventing the unintentional closing of an open sliding cover.
In a development of the invention the crash protection means comprises at least one flywheel pivotally connected to the sliding cover which, on collision, engages a bar provided with notches and mounted on the fixed roof portion. Such crash protection means are composed of very few elements and are easily mounted. Their operation is highly reliable.
In a modified embodiment, the crash protection means comprises at least one automatic safety belt extending between the sliding cover and the fixed roof portion.
In the case of a sliding top in which the rear edge of the sliding cover is connected to a shifting yoke by raising levers, one or more stabilizing levers can be provided additionally as crash protection means between the raising levers, perpendicularly to the vehicle longitudinal axis. Said stabilizing levers are pivoted on the shifting yoke and the rear end of the sliding cover.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.